Songwriter: Michael Stipe Peter Buck Mike Mills (R.E.M.)

Producer: Johnny Dollar

[Verse 1]
Nothing could be bring me closer
Nothing could be bring me near
Where is the road I follow?
To leave, leave
It's under, under, under my feet
The sea spread out there before me
Where do I go when the land touches sea?
There is my trust in what I believe

[Chorus]
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave, leave it
Leave it all behind

[Verse 2]
Shifting the dream
Nothing could bring me further from my old friend time
Shifting the dream, it's charging the scene
I know where I marked the signs
I suffer the dreams of a world gone mad
I like it like that and I know it
Oh, I know it well, ugly and sweet
I temper madness with an even extreme
That's what keeps me, that's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
I say that I'm a bantam lightweight
I say that I'm a phantom airplane that never left the ground

[Verse 3]
Lift my hands, my eyes are still
I'll walk into the sea
Lift myself a different place
Just leave it
I've longed for this to take me
I've longed for my release
I've waited for the calling
To leave

[Chorus]
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave, leave it
Leave it all behind
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave, leave it
Leave it all behind

[Outro]
Leavin'
Leave, leave
Leave, leave
Leave, leave
Leave, leave
Leave

R.E.M.

R.E.M. were an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry.

Berry quit the band in April 1997, as they were getting together to record demos for the album Up. He was not replaced on a permanent basis, but the band used an assortment of drummers in his place.